Lee Young-pyo's criticism of the U23 shock defeat, "I can't understand it easily regardless of generation."

*This content was translated by AI.

Commentator Lee Young-pyo also criticized South Korea's under-23 (U-23) soccer team as it suffered a complete defeat against Uzbekistan and ended up with a lethargic performance.

KBS commentator Lee Young-pyo said during the broadcast of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup match against Uzbekistan at Prince Faisal bin Fakhd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the 13th (Korea time).

South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, was pushed to the brink by allowing a first run in the third minute of the second half and an additional run in the 25th minute of the second half. South Korea was able to reach the quarterfinals on its own just by drawing, but rather, it lost two goals in the second half and was on the verge of elimination.

Commentator Lee Young-pyo said, "The game can be lost," but he couldn't hide his regret at the players' helpless performance on the ground. Moreover, unlike South Korea, which played as the U-23 national team, Uzbekistan was a two-year-old U-21 national team in preparation for the Los Angeles (LA) Olympics two years later.

Commissioner Lee Young-pyo pointed out, "It is not easy to understand as a soccer player regardless of generation that the players are fighting or moving in an offensive situation when they are being dragged by a team that is 2 years younger than 0-2.

In fact, South Korea failed to show its will to win not only after the first run but also even when the score gap widened. On the contrary, there have been several scenes where even concentration has been lost, such as missing an ordinary pass and giving away the ball ownership to the opponent in vain.

Commentator Lee Young-pyo said, "I don't see the will or passion to turn the game around even after allowing the first run and even giving up additional runs," adding, "I hope I can feel and learn a lot through today's game."

Even after the game, commentator Lee Young-pyo added, "I think it is a game that should be analyzed more in-depth than other games that the active play or passion to reverse the game was not delivered to soccer fans through the screen when they lost (preemptive) points in the second half."

South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, led by 66.7%-33.3% in ball possession, but was inferior to 6-8 in the number of shots, and only one shot (four in Uzbekistan) was effective. South Korea, which only gained four points (1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss) due to the defeat, however, managed to reach the quarterfinals by ranking second in the group when Iran lost to Lebanon at the same time. Uzbekistan ranked first with seven points (2 wins and 1 draw), while Lebanon (1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss) and Iran (2 draws, 1 loss) had 3 points and 2 points, respectively. South Korea will clash with China, Australia, Iraq and Thailand in the quarterfinals of Group D.

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*This content was translated by AI.